Scaling up to fight a state-threatening wave of gang violence

Wars & Conflicts · Published 16 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Haiti's statehood is under threat as terrorist gangs expand their territory, turning the nation into a potential exporter of crime and drugs. To counter this, the international community is transforming a previous security mission into a much larger force designed to restore a baseline of security.

The transition from the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) marks a significant shift in international strategy. While the MSS was led by Kenya and successfully prevented the complete collapse of the Haitian state, it lacked the scale and resources to truly turn the tide against the gangs. The new GSF is designed to be five times the size of its predecessor, with the capacity to scale up to more than 5,000 personnel.

This expansion is supported by a UN Support Office in Haiti, which provides the necessary logistics to handle the increased scope. The crisis was precipitated by a political impasse following the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Without a constitutional mandate, the government struggled to maintain order as gang violence escalated, resulting in nearly 2,800 recorded murders between October 2022 and June 2023.

The Haitian National Police have been severely depleted, losing over 7,000 personnel since 2021 and leaving only about 9,000 officers to serve a population of over 11 million. This vacuum allowed gangs to pillage, murder, and terrorize the population, threatening a regional migration crisis. The GSF is not a standard UN operation; it is an international force where the UN provides logistics support funded by assessed contributions. The mission aims to allow specialized international institutions to lead on addressing the multifaceted drivers of instability, such as rebuilding governance and the rule of law. Crucially, the resolution tasks the Haitian people themselves with developing a plan to eventually re-assume security responsibility, ensuring the international intervention serves as a bridge to long-term sustainability rather than a permanent substitute for sovereign authority.

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